The present disclosure relates to a bed having a retractable side barrier, in particular a bed for a patient; the disclosure relates more particularly to an apparatus for enabling the height of the protection provided by said barrier to be increased, other things remaining equal.
A patient bed is known that is fitted with a side barrier mounted along a bedstead or frame of the bed. To give access to the bed in order to provide care, it is known to combine such a barrier with a deformable parallelogram mechanism having two pivot arms connected to the stationary frame of the bed or to an equivalent structure. Under such conditions, the barrier can be lowered or raised, substantially parallel to itself, the movement being accompanied by a movement in translation and rotation parallel to the longitudinal direction of the bed. In such a mechanism, it is desirable to increase the distance between the top bar of the barrier in the raised position and the bedding plane. Nevertheless, in this position, the bottom edge of the barrier should not be situated too high.
Furthermore, in the low position, the bottom edge of the barrier should be at a sufficient distance from the floor. These requirements are specified by a standard. Taking all of these constraints into account would lead to the height of the bedding plane to be raised in order to be able to associate a higher barrier with the bed. That is not desirable since said bedding plane needs to be relatively low in order to reduce the risk of injury if a patient falls out of bed, and in order to make it easier to move the patient out from the bed or to put the patient into the bed.
From a mechanical point of view, it is known to associate the deformable parallelogram mechanism with a bottom bar that is hinged to the two arms via its two ends. This bar is referred to herein as a deployment bar and it serves to make the movements of the mechanism more reliable by avoiding jamming. Conventionally, the bar is installed in a box that is fixed under the frame of the bed and that occupies a relatively large volume.
Document EP 1 053 735 describes a barrier that is hinged in its own plane and that comprises two portions, a bottom portion and a top portion that are approximately L-shaped. The dynamics of the deployment system are such that the two portions are further apart from each other when the barrier is in its high position than when it is in its low position. The space between the two portions can give rise to an accident. In addition, when the barrier is in its low position, it occupies a relatively large amount of space longitudinally.
The devices disclosed herein seek to reconcile all of the above-mentioned requirements while avoiding the above-analyzed drawbacks of the prior art device.